Le Moyne men's lacrosse team about to enter defining five-game stretch of the season

Frank Ordoñez / The Post-StandardLe Moyne's Corey Bulken looks to take control of a faceoff earlier this season vs. Seton Hill.

Syracuse, NY -- In the compact world of Division II lacrosse where only four teams make the NCAA Tournament, one loss can change an entire perspective. That has certainly been the case this season at Le Moyne.

The Dolphins have won three D-II national championships under Dan Sheehan but have fallen in the last three title games. The message entering the 2011 season was to not just return to the title game for the sixth consecutive season but to win it. An 11-9 loss to Limestone on March 6, which snapped Le Moyne's 47-game regular-season victory streak, altered the situation significantly.

"Right now we're trying to get there, which is a little bit different for us," Sheehan said. "Having dropped the game to Limestone, we're scratching and clawing right now. That loss kind of puts things in perspective."

The situation is now this: No. 2 Le Moyne (7-1, 5-0 Northeast-10 Conference) will enter Saturday's 2 p.m. home conference game with St. Michael's (4-3, 3-0) knowing its best chance to be one of the four teams selected for the Tournament and to get a home game in the semifinals will be to win out.

"Right now we're playing like we just need to keep winning in order to stay in driver's seat," Sheehan said.

Sheehan is encouraged by the way the team "got over the shock" of losing to Limestone, a team he said is loaded with Canadian scorers with "ridiculous sticks." Yet, he also knows the Dolphins' NE-10 schedule this season is back-loaded, with the five teams at the end much better than the five Le Moyne routed earlier.

Among those five are road tests with No. 7 Adelphi and No. 9 Merrimack. It will be a tough challenge, although Le Moyne has plenty of seniors who have passed similar tests before. Among them is 2010 midfielder of the year Matt Chadderdon (Auburn: 10 goals, 8 assists), who was still fighting through a shoulder injury during the Limestone loss but is 100 percent now.

The team also has All-America attackman Jack Harmatuk (CBA; 14-11), who has scored at least one goal in 39 consecutive games, and fellow attackmen Jack Venditti (C.W. Baker; 16-4) and Vinnie Alexander (Westhill; 18-10). Senior Corey Bulken (C.W. Baker; .711 at the faceoff X) has made sure the offense gets ample possessions.

"I think the last three weeks we've been playing pretty well," Sheehan said. "We're certainly headed in right direction."